Rats Nom-Nom Coconuts

Rats Nom-Nom Coconuts

Rats Love Coconuts!*

Don't open up the coconut - the rat does the work.

The point of giving your rat a whole coconut is to give the rat foraging work, because in the wild rats forage constantly. Helping your rat do normal rat activities is what enrichment is all about. This recipe is not to merely give the rat a bit of coconut to eat, but to present the rat with a puzzle she has to solve. Rats will smell the luscious coconut meat inside the nut and be drawn to get to it. The task is not easy - it can take a good long while for the rat to actually get to the coconut meat, which is great as it translates to good mental stimulation.

Recipe for Coconuts and Rats: Prepare one coconut: Take fresh whole coconut, scrub well. May scrape holes lightly to clean them slightly, but do not puncture holes in coconut holes. The rat has the job of puncturing the holes!

Take one rat, place in private, solitary cage. Add coconut. Allow to mix well. Expect first few times to be long trial-and-error process for rat to figure out the importance of coconut holes and how to work them. (Alert: if the rat shows no interest in the coconut, consider that the coconut may be stale or dried out. Remove coconut and shave off a piece of each hole, which should help the odor escape, and attract the rat. if this doesn't work, consider getting a fresher coconut.)

Allow rat to have at it for upwards of 30 minutes or more. Expect rat will expend lots of energy discovering and digging into the coconut holes. Rat gets to work hard to figure out a difficult puzzle. Good mind work. Good body work. Consider the small amount of coconut the rat will eat to be a fruit treat for the day, perhaps the same as one grape.

Remove coconut when play time is over. Store in refrigerator for another play date, for upwards of 10 days.

WARNING: Rats cannot share coconuts. One coconut per rat, and one cage per rat-coconut pair. This warning comes from experience!

Do not leave coconut in cage with rat over night, or rat will (1) successfully make a huge hole in the tough coconut shell and gorge on the fattening meat, thus becoming a fat rat, and (2) tip the coconut on its side such that the milk pours out all over the cage floor, making for a big cleaning job, and then (3) drink that milk and become an even fatter rat.

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